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Apparently, and I quote: "The premise of the movie is based off a manuscript of the Yorknew City arc written by Togashi Yoshihiro that he eventually ended up scrapping." Discuss the movie as you see fit. Using spoiler tag is entirely up to you if you are one of those lucky ones who got to attend the premiere. As for the rest of us, use discretion as to whether or not you want to be in this thread. Synopsis is in the following:

Kurapika became a Hunter to take vengeance on the Phantom Troupe, a gang of thieves who massacred his clan. The Phantom Troupe sought out the Kurta Clan for their eyes, which turn scarlet when they get agitated. An unknown party has stolen Kurapika's "scarlet eyes," but Kurapika's life is saved with the help of Gon, Killua, and Leorio. The Phantom Troupe stands before Kurapika and the others, who are about to discover the true identity of the person with the No.4 spider tattoo.

I’m very reluctant to try and do a detailed review of a movie I watched raw, so I’ll just give some highlights. Having read the prequel chapters definitely helped, and I’m able to follow enough of the language now to have a general idea – but there are certain elements I’m not sure of, even so. If you’d rather go in fresh when you see the movie, please stop reading here.

Spoiler for Major Phantom Rouge Spoilers:

Headlines:

Kurapika loses his eyes (sort of)
Gon gets a girlfriend (sort of)
Killua gets jealous of the girlfriend (sort of, but pretty obviously)
Leorio uses Nen (sort of)
Gon and Killa get their butts saved by both Nobunaga and Hisoka (not sort of at all)
Killua has a final battle with Illumi (not really)
Hisoka and Chrollo fight (not really)

Generally speaking, I thought the film was very strong. Because of the pacing – basically 4 episodes rather than Togashi’s usual 20-episode arcs – some of the details are lost, inevitably. But in general it’s exciting, energetic, dark and very much in-character. It looks great too.

The basic premise surrounds a man named Omokage (Fujiki Naohito), who’s a sort of puppet master – he has the ability to make perfect copies of anyone (including dead people, crucially) including their Nen abilities. Where it gets a bit dodgy is the timeline, since this is a story that’s not in the manga’s canon. Omokage appears to be Spider #4 – he certainly has the tattoo, and the rest certainly know him – which might place this before York Shin, at the time Hisoka takes over the #4 spot himself. But it’s very clear that Uvogin is dead (though he appears as one of Omokage’s puppets), which would place it after York Shin. I’m guessing this is probably a language issue and I would know the answer if I’d seen it subbed, but I’m honestly not sure.

There are two other major new characters. First is Pairo (Kawashima Umika), the Kurta boy from the manga prequel. His story is one of the saddest in the Hunter x Hunter annals (as you know if you read it) and he’s involved in some of the movie’s best scenes. The other new character is Retzu (Hirano Aya) who seems to be Omokage’s sister – though Gon doesn’t know this when he befriends her. The dynamic between Gon, Killua and Retzu is very interesting – it’s really the first time we’ve seen them interact with a girl their own age.

To be honest I was expecting the movie to be extremely Kurapika-centric, based on the trailer and the promo art. But while his story is certainly the catalyst, it’s very much Gon and Killua who are the main characters. In fact it’s actually Killua who has the most and longest dramatic scenes, and his psychological trauma surrounding Illumi is at least as important thematically as Kurapika’s tragic back-story. Gon and Killua’s friendship is at the center of the film, just as it is for most of the TV arcs – in a way, you could look at this as stylistically a cross between York Shin and the Hunter Exam. We also see the Phantom Troupe in a somewhat different light than we’re used to – at the very least, they fulfill a different role than they do in the anime canon. That’s most especially true of Nobunaga – it’s more clear than ever that he’s the most “sympathetic” of all the Spiders, and that he has a liking for Gon and Killua just as Hisoka does. As for Hisoka, his awesomeness really needs to be seen – I couldn’t really do it justice with mere words. He’s not a friend, he’s not an enemy – he’s a Hisoka, and there’s no one like him. And he sure isn’t someone you’d want to piss off.

As for the big announcement that was promised after the credits, we got good news – though I suspect many were hoping it would be different news. It wasn’t an announcement of the manga re-starting, but rather of a second Hunter X Hunter film. The only character who appears in the very brief scene is Netero (looking rather smug, in fact) and there are no details beyond that. Is Togashi writing it? Is it based on another “lost” manga story? At this point your guess is as good as mine. Meanwhile we wait for Togashi-sensei to restart the manga – which I hope he does soon, as the anime will be at risk of catching up otherwise. But I guess anything less than a year doesn’t really count as a hiatus when it’s Togashi-sensei.

So the movie isn't canon, right? I mean, it doesn't seem to fit in the timeline at all.

If it does, I can't figure out exactly how based on the raw. The characters act as if it were (that's the difference in having the actual mangaka do the writing) but it does seem to exist in an alternate timeline.

If it does, I can't figure out exactly how based on the raw. The characters act as if it were (that's the difference in having the actual mangaka do the writing) but it does seem to exist in an alternate timeline.

thats the magic fix for these kinds of fallacies in any kind of fiction.

It's actually much less of an AU story than I had expected. In fact, it comes surprisingly close to being able to fit into the main storyline--there are just a few details that throw things off here and there.

To clear up a few of the points mentioned previously--it does take place after York Shin. The Spiders know about Hisoka's betrayal, and they spare Kurapika at the end because they're aware that they need to resolve Chrollo's situation before they do anything to him. Hisoka entered the group by killing Omokage, but the Omokage he killed was actually a puppet (and Hisoka was aware of this, but he didn't care--he thought it would be more interesting to let the real Omokage live longer, anyway).

Omokage was willing to drop out of the group at that point because he had gotten close enough to the Spiders to create puppets of his favorite members, which was his only reason for joining in the first place. So although he didn't conspire with Hisoka to fake his death or anything, appearing to die at Hisoka's hands ended up working out well for both of them.

It's actually much less of an AU story than I had expected. In fact, it comes surprisingly close to being able to fit into the main storyline--there are just a few details that throw things off here and there.

To clear up a few of the points mentioned previously--it does take place after York Shin. The Spiders know about Hisoka's betrayal, and they spare Kurapika at the end because they're aware that they need to resolve Chrollo's situation before they do anything to him. Hisoka entered the group by killing Omokage, but the Omokage he killed was actually a puppet (and Hisoka was aware of this, but he didn't care--he thought it would be more interesting to let the real Omokage live longer, anyway).

Omokage was willing to drop out of the group at that point because he had gotten close enough to the Spiders to create puppets of his favorite members, which was his only reason for joining in the first place. So although he didn't conspire with Hisoka to fake his death or anything, appearing to die at Hisoka's hands ended up working out well for both of them.

Thanks for the clarification. One question:

Spoiler for Spoilery question:

What about Retzu? Was she a puppet as well, or did she really die?

I'm never the one who says "this show should get a sub-forum", but given that H x H already has four threads (actually five, that I know of) scattered around three different boards...

Excellent debut for the first Hunter X Hunter film. The opening is only behind the holy trinity of Pokemon, Doraemon, and Detective Conan when comparing annual TV anime films, and best franchises like Bleach or Naruto quite easily. ¥2 billion ($25 million) is the goal here.

It's out subbed and I just watched it and the result was pretty good. I've heard people say that they are glad this didn't get into the manga, but I don't think of it that way at all. There is a huge difference between a movie and a full arc made up of multiple manga chapters and/or anime episodes. (Imagine if Yorkshin was a movie instead). If anything I would have liked to see this in the manga as I felt Omokage and Retz needed more backstory which could have been fixed if the story were a manga arc instead. Other than that everything was good. Characterization was consistent and the story is very dark which is pretty much a sign of Hunter x Hunter. And it is interesting to watch the Killua/Illumi dynamic since it is playing out right this moment in the Chimera Ant arc. I'd give it an 8/10.